Towel-holder.



A. s. MOFFAT.-

TOWEL HOLDER.v APPLICATION FILED DEC- I8. 1915.

,2 1 8, 1 03 Patented Mar. 6, 1917.

Invenfiw, Albert SQMOffiIt; I

ALBERT S. MOFFAT, 0E BELMoE i/iAssAonosETTs, Assrsivon To HARVEY o.

WHEELER, 0E BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

TOWEL-HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 6, 1917.

Application filed December 18, 1915. Serial No. 67,527.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT S. MOFFAT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Belmont, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Towel-Holders, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

The object of this invention is the construction of improved means for Supporting a set of towels to permit them to be freely used, and at the same time securely locked against unwarranted removal.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the holding means arranged upon brackets. Fig. 2 is a cross section of the towel holding device alone. Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the method of fastening a bracket to the panel in a manner to insure against unfastenlng the same. Fig. 4

is a front view of the upper part of a cabinet having my towel holder disposed therein.

As shown in Fig. 1, the towels 1 are clamped between two bars 2 and 3 by means of two thumb screws 4 passing freelythrough the upper bar 2 and turning in the under bar3. So long as these screws are kept firmly down upon the upper bar, the towels cannot be removed from between the bars. Thus to lock the thumb screws from being unscrewed, the head 5 of each of them is formed with a hole 7 through which a slender rod 9 is passed, a head 10 at one end of the rod and a padlock 11 engaging a hole 12 in the other end locking the rod against withdrawal and hence the thumb screws against turning. While this is desirable as far as it goes, it still lacks one feature for perfectly adapting the device to general office and factory use where a great many towels are to be collected and replaced by a single concern.

In other words, for one man to unfasten the locking device, turn the thumb screws, raise the bar 2, take out the towels, count out the proper number of clean towels, introduee the same between the bars 2 and 3, turn down the thumb screws, run the rod 9 through the holes and reapply the padlock, would occupy altogether too much of a mans time, not to mention the time of the waiting team.

I have accordingly adapted the holder to be readily removed with its contained soiled towels, so that another holder previously filled with fresh towels can be quickly put in its place. To this end, the bar 3 is given atrunnion 13 at each extremity, one of which is designed to be introduced endwise into a socket in the left hand bracket 14. The other trunnion is disposed to be dropped easily into a deep seat 15 in the other bracket 16, so that by raising the right hand end of the bar and drawing the other end out from the hole 17, the entire holder is readily removed from the brackets.

To fasten the bars against unwarranted removal, the bracket 16 is formed with an upright ear 19 having a considerable number of holes 18 therein of a size to receive the rod 9, Consequently, by passing the rod 9 through the holes in the screw heads and thence through that one of the holes 18 which is nearest in line with the rod when the trunnion is disposed in the seat 15, and then looking the padlock in the rod-end, both the towels are made Secure against their removal from between the bars 2, 3 and the entire holder against unwarranted eX- traction.

Consequently, the towels can be counted out and put between bars 2, 3 at the laundry by comparatively inexpensive help, so that all the collector needs to do is to unlock the padlocks, slide the rods 9 partly out, remove the holder with towels and all, and put in another holder with its supply of towels.

In order to have the bars 2, 3 grip the towels more securely, Iprefer to have the lower bar 3 made trough-shaped, with the concave side uppermost, in order that the pressure of the upper bar will force the layers of towel in between the edges of the trough and so insure against their being worked out. See Fig. 2.

To keep the brackets 14, .16 from being removed and the entire fixture stolen, I use machine screws 20 introduced through the panel or board 21 into the brackets, but not coming entirely through the bracket-member receiving them, as shown in Fig. 3.

In Fig. 4, the reference numeral 22 designates a cabinet having my towel holder fastoned therein. The brackets 14, 16 are unnecessary here, but members containing the hole 17 and seat 15 are here shown as fastenedto the sides of the cabinet, the member 24 in which is the seat 15 having the upright ear 19 similarly to the bracket 16.

In using these towels, the outermost one gether, the head of each screw having a transverse hole through it, a rod adapted to be passed through the holes in both screws, a stationary member having a socket receiving an end of one of said bars, a stationary member having a seat removably receiving the other end of the last-named bar, and means for locking in place the end of said rod above said seat, both to prevent the rods V withdrawal from the screws and the bar from the seat.

2. A towel holder comprising two bars,

thumb screws for clamping the towels between them, the head of each screw having a hole transversely through it, a rod adapted to be passed through both of said holes, a stationary member having a socket receiving an end of one of said bars, a stationary member having a seat receiving the other end of the same bar, an ear rigid with the last-named member having a line of closely disposed holes fitted to receive the rod, and means for locking the rod in one of the lastnamed holes and also in the holes through the screw heads. 7

In testimony that I claim the foregoing invention, I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of December, 1915.

ALBERT S. MOFFAT.

Witness A. B. UPHAM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. O. 

